After 7-Year Messy Legal Battle, Bulleit Lands Another Victory in Bottle Trademark Case Against Redemption Whiskey

Diageo’s Bulleit Frontier Whiskey (right) defended its win in the Court of Appeals against W.J. Deutsch & Sons’s Redemption Whiskey (left.)

On Wednesday, Reuters reported that the Diageo-owned Bulleit Frontier Whiskey defended its win against W.J. Deutsch & Sons in the 2nd U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals in Manhattan. Diageo argued its Bulleit Frontier Whiskey brand was famous enough and its bottles distinctive enough to force Deutsch Family Wine & Spirits to rebrand its Redemption Whiskey.

Following a previous legal loss, W.J. Deutsch & Sons took the case to the 2nd U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals in Manhattan, claiming in front of a three-judge panel that Bulleit was not famous enough to force the Redemption brand to change its bottle shape. Legal reps for Deutsch argued that Bulleit Frontier Whiskey was not a household name and that Redemption should still be able to sell its bottles — despite the packaging’s similarities.

This was met with skepticism from the court.

“Are you setting up a really high standard for fame though?” U.S. Circuit Judge Myrna Perez asked a lawyer for Deutsch. “Just because some brand isn’t Nike or Disney doesn’t mean that it’s not famous, right?”

Another judge agreed, referencing the famous jewelry store Tiffany’s and its bright blue packaging as another example.

“A third of the people in the country have no idea what Tiffany is, but lots of people do,” Senior U.S. Circuit Judge Barrington Parker claimed.

It remains unclear as to whether W.J. Deutsch & Sons will take further legal action.

The lawsuit between Deutsch and Diageo has been going on for several years now after the major spirits brand sued the company in 2017 over the design of its bottles. In June 2017, The Spirits Business reported that Diageo claimed the Deutsch Family Wines & Spirits Redemption Whiskey bottle redesign was “revised to closely mimic” the vintage-looking shape of Bulleit bourbon bottles. Diageo argued that Deutsch was attempting to profit off of the reputation Bulleit Frontier Whiskey had established.

In June 2022, the jury concluded that Redemption did not infringe upon Bulleit Frontier Whiskey’s trademark rights, but that Bulleit was entitled to trademark protection, and the Redemption bottle “diluted” its distinctiveness. In September 2022, Deutsch & Sons was banned from selling the similarly shaped Redemption bottles, and the smaller company expressed that the brand intended to fight this ruling.

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